Micron Biomedical, a start-up company founded at Georgia Tech by Mark Prausnitz, Devin McAllister and Sebastien Henry, won the 2015 Startups to Watch Award given to university start-up companies by the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the Atlanta Business Chronicle and will be honored at the Business Person of the Year awards luncheon on June 12^th.

Prausnitz, Micron co-founder, is a Regents’ Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering and has carried out research on drug delivery systems for 25 years. McAllister, Micron co-founder, received his Ph.D. in chemical engineering from Georgia Tech and has led the process development and GMP manufacturing efforts on Georgia Tech’s NIH-funded project on the development of a microneedle patch for influenza vaccination Henry, Micron co-founder, received his M.S. in biomedical engineering from Georgia Tech. He has 7 US patents issued or pending and has worked on microneedles projects at Georgia Tech for 9 years.

Micron Biomedical, Inc. (Micron) is a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to revolutionizing the way pharmaceuticals and vaccines are administered, distributed, and stored.  To reach this goal, Micron is on a rapid path to commercialize a novel vaccine and drug delivery technology, based on dissolving microneedle patches, aimed at achieving better health outcomes through enhanced therapeutic effects, simplified logistics, and improved patient compliance.

Micron’s activities leverage microneedle technology developed in the Prausnitz laboratory, including the development of a microneedle patch for influenza vaccination that will be studied in a phase 1 clinical trial.  Micron is licensing Georgia Tech’s microneedle technology to supplement its own intellectual property portfolio.

Micron is currently developing a microneedle patch for polio (IPV) vaccination to be evaluated in a phase 1 clinical trial in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the Global Polio Eradication Program with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Micron is also developing a microneedle patch for influenza vaccination using internal funding.  Additionally, Micron is evaluating other drugs and vaccines through undisclosed projects.

Micron was a winner of the first Innovation Challenge in support of the mission to eradicate polio globally organized by Innocentive, Inc and Beyond Polio, an initiative of the Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation and the investment firm Spencer Trask.  Micron has also benefited from a Phase 1 award from the Georgia Research Alliance through VentureLab at Georgia Tech.

For more information about the award: http://www.metroatlantachamber.com/members/business-person-of-the-year